RI Future: Murphy to Step Down

At a meeting last week of committee chairs, House Speaker Bill Murphy announced that he would not be seeking a fifth term as Speaker. At the same time, he endorsed House Majority Leader Gordon Fox as the next Speaker of the House.

Bravo to Speaker Murphy for holding true to his self-imposed 8-year term limit as Speaker (the same limit statutorily applied to General Officers). So often, elected officials make these promises, but the lure of power forces them to turn back on them.

Murphy's public announcement - the first announcing both his retirement as Speaker and his endorsement of Fox - comes as the jockeying for Speaker has intensified in recent months. Both Rep. Greg Schadone and Rep. Steve Ucci have been making their case for the state's most powerful job in the last year. They are both said to have between 5 and 15 supporters each.

The clear favorite, however, has always been Fox. He is known as a relentless and hard-working Majority Leader who handles many of the meetings and policy debates that the extremely busy defense attorney Bill Murphy can't attend to.